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Monday, 3 August 2015

Books I've Pre-Ordered

It's only in the past year or so that I've started to pre-order books. I've pre-ordered books before - my dad pre-ordered the final Harry Potter book for me so it'd be delivered to me on the release day and I could read it without being spoiled - but for the most part I'd just wait until a book appeared in the shops before I bought it, or I'd just put it on my birthday and/or Christmas list.Now that I'm earning my own money, though, I spend the majority of it on books, and I'm glad I do. I love books, and even though I'm running out of room I like building up my own personal library. Besides, I like a bit of organised chaos so the slowly encroaching clutter doesn't really bother me.So today I thought I'd share with you some of the books I've pre-ordered!

Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.

Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.

A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalised by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's sense of dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of Monte Verità promises immortality, but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd...

A married couple on holiday in Venice are caught up in a sinister series of events. A lonely schoolmaster is impelled to investigate a mysterious American couple. A young woman loses her cool when she confronts her father's old friend on a lonely island. A party of British pilgrims meet strange phenomena and possible disaster in the Holy Land. A scientist abandons his scruples while trying to tap the energy of the dying mind.

Collecting five stories of mystery and slow, creeping horror, Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now and Other Storiesshowcases her unique blend of sympathy and spinetingling suspense.

Earlier this year I collected all of du Maurier's novels that have been released in the VMC Designer editions - Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek, and My Cousin Rachel - so when I saw they were releasing two of her short story collections in the same editions I just had to order them. I haven't read any of her short fiction yet, but I'm looking forward to reading it!

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

The minute I read the synopsis of this book I knew I had to have it. It's so rare to come across a book with a plus size protagonist where the story doesn't revolve around them losing weight, and that's so important. All bodies are different; I have friends who are slim and who will always be slim even if they ate their weight in food, and I have other friends who are plump and will always be plump no matter how much they exercise. I think we have this poisonous way of seeing 'thin' and thinking 'healthy', but that's not always the case. Everyone should be able to feel confident in their own skin, no matter how big or how small they are, and I'm really hoping this book doesn't disappoint!

Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor sharp dialogue, DEMON ROAD kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America. Killer cars, vampires, undead serial killers: they’re all here. And the demons? Well, that’s where Amber comes in...Sixteen years old, smart and spirited, she’s just a normal American teenager until the lies are torn away and the demons reveal themselves.

Forced to go on the run, she hurtles from one threat to another, revealing a tapestry of terror woven into the very fabric of her life. Her only chance rests with her fellow travellers, who are not at all what they appear to be…

I love Derek Landy - the Skulduggery Pleasant series always makes me smile - so I couldn't let the opportunity to pre-order a platinum, signed edition of his new book pass me by. I know very little about this book, but I'm looking forward to reading it!

Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. Written by award-winning creator, Jeff Lemaire, Descender is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey. Lemaire pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling epic. Collecting issues #1-6 of Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, Trillium) and Dustin Nguyen's (Little Gotham) critically acclaimed, bestselling new science fiction series!

If you've been following my blog for a while you'll know I've been reading a lot of graphic novels this year, and I've really enjoyed it! This one was recommended to me over on amazon and it was available to pre-order for only £5 so I thought 'why not?' So far it's gotten some great reviews on Goodreads and apparently the art is beautiful, so I'm looking forward to reading it!

Multiple storylines collide in this cosmos-spanning new volume. While Gwendolyn and Lying Cat risk everything to find a cure for The Will, Marko makes an uneasy alliance with Prince Robot IV to find their missing children, who are trapped on a strange world with terrifying new enemies.

I've been eager to get my hands on Volume 5 of Saga ever since I finished Volume 4. I managed to plough my way through the first four volumes at the beginning of this year, so I'm looking forward to getting back into this world and seeing these characters again.

I've also pre-ordered the second volume of Copperhead, but it still doesn't have a complete title, a cover or even any information about all of the artists who've worked on it. Soon I'll be pre-ordering Volume 7 of American Vampire and Volume 4 of Ms. Marvel, too; I know American Vampire, Vol.7 has already been out for a little while, but I collect the paperbacks rather than the hardbacks, so I have to wait a little longer for my copies!

5 comments:

I also have Winter on pre-order, along with Queen of Shadows and Every Word (which is already out but not in Canada and I need my copy to match the first book LOL) I'll be pre-ordering Raven King as soon as it gets it's official cover as well :D I've heard great things about Dumpling too, I hope you enjoy it^^ xx

I think you will really love Dumplin'! It had some great feminist values while still feeling like a realistic teen narrative rather than trying to hit anyone over the head with a message. Willowdean is SUCH a great protagonist, and very multi-dimensional. I hope you enjoy it!

OH OH YOU HAVE MADE MARVELLOUS LIFE CHOICES HERE. :D I absolutely adored Dumplin and Demon Road. But EXCELLENT (and the protagonist of Demon Road isn't your "average" body type of YA heroine either! :D) and it's funny. And scary. :') I love Derek Landy so much. AWK. And I can't wait for Winter! I've never actually preordered but gawsh, I'm tempted for that one.